Mentor To Be Cross-Examined At Zondo Commission

A screengrab of Vytjie Mentor appearing at the Zondo Commission on 11 February 2019.

Former ANC MP Vytjie Mentor will continue with her testimony on Tuesday at the Zondo commission of inquiry into state capture.

This is her second day of questioning at the inquiry. The commission is looking into claims that members of the controversial Gupta family used their close relationship with former president Jacob Zuma to capture the state and loot billions from South Africa.

Mentor will be cross-examined by legal counsel for two people. These are Zuma’s former adviser Lakela Kaunda, and Hawks official Mandla Mtolo, who had applied to quiz the former parliamentarian.

Mentor has alleged that the Gupta family wanted to give her the position of public enterprises minister if she would cancel SAA’s lucrative direct route to India. She has said Zuma was in the Gupta house in Saxonwold when she was offered this position.

On Monday, Mentor agreed she might have been mistaken about how the house was, when she had described it in detail during that 2010 visit.

During her testimony last year, Mentor described the house, saying there were marble stairs, bathrooms with a gold finish, exquisite mirrors and a chef, among others.

After Mentor’s testimony describing the Gupta”s residence in Saxonworld, the commission undertook an inspection together with her to confirm if the house was as she described.

She says there are things she found to have changed at the house and has asked the commission to establish if certain features were always there.

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